The God ThothAncient Egypt for KidsWeighing of the Heart

Most people in ancient Egypt were afraid of one particular god - the god Ammut (also spelled Ammit.) Ammut was the god with the crocodile head. The ancient Egyptians believed if you did something really bad during your lifetime that the god Ammut might magically appear and eat you. With her crocodile head, she had the teeth to do so.

The god Ammut was always on hand after you died, in case she was needed. The ancient Egyptians believed that to enter your afterlife, your heart had to be light. You gained a light heart by doing many good deeds during your lifetime. After you died, on your way to your afterlife, you had to travel through the Hall of Maat. The god Anubis weighed your heart. The god Thoth (pictured above) recorded the findings. And the god Ammut stood by. If your heart was as a light as a feather, you passed Maat's test, and entered your afterlife. But, if your heart was heavy, Ammut would move swiftly and gobble you up.

Everyone wanted to enter their afterlife. So nearly everyone in ancient Egypt did many good deeds during their lifetime. Nobody wanted to be eaten by the dreaded god, Ammut, whose body was a mix of lion and hippo, and whose head was that of a crocodile, the three most dangerous man-eating animals in ancient Egypt.